Gas turbine engines typically have oil systems that serve to lubricate, cool and clean bearings and/or gears of such engines. In aircraft applications, such as fixed-wing aircraft with one or more propellers driven by one or more gas turbine engines, oil systems can also serve to supply oil to the propeller system(s). The oil system of a gas turbine engine can include one or more cooling fans that can assist in removing heat from oil being circulated through various parts of the engine.
Gas turbine engines can also include different modes of operation. In aircraft applications for example, gas turbine applications can have different modes of operation depending on, for example, whether the aircraft is in flight or on the ground. During the different modes of operation, it can be desirable or necessary to drive the oil cooling fan. However, existing systems and methods that are configured to drive the oil cooling fan throughout the different modes of operation of a gas turbine engine can often result in compromising the efficiency of the engine during some modes of operation.
Improvement in driving an oil cooling fan of a gas turbine engine is therefore desired.